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Geared Down

Old 03-20-21, 10:05 PM
  #1  
T Pascal Parham
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Geared Down

I always rode a corncob, nearly straight cog - you know, each gear 1 tooth from the last, the largest two maybe an extra tooth apartb. They were a joy to ride, looked right on my racing bikes, and never kept me from ascending the steepest climbs. However, lately, I found I was really dragging behind on hills, behind cycle mates pushing much lower gears. Well, as the old saying goes, I ain't proud! Mind you, I was proud, but at this point, I'm proud to still ride, still hauling Columbus steel and Campy alloy, and if I want the numerical advantage of lower gears, well, I can't hide it, so go ahead and smirk at my new 11-28 cluster. See you at the top!
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Old 03-20-21, 10:19 PM
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canklecat
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Yup, since 2015 my steel road bike has gone from the original 7-speed 13-24 freewheel to 13-25 and now 13-28. And the chainrings have gone from 52/42 to 52/39 and now 50/38.

One of my carbon fiber bikes still has the 52/39 and 11-25 setup, but it's much lighter and tolerable on climbs. Otherwise there's little difference. The Centurion Ironman is still generally more comfy.
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Old 03-21-21, 06:56 AM
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John E
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Understood. I rode the 1972 Los Angeles Wheelmen Double Century on 54-44/14-24 1.5-step gearing, then used a 50-47/14-16-18-20-23 half-step for flats and swapped in a 42 for 1.5-step gearing for hills.

For a long time I have used 42/26 low gears on my road bikes, but the Capo Modell Campagnolo just got 46-38/13-15-17-19-22-25.

As I have been putting more miles on my mountain bike, I am enjoying having the lower gears (down to 28/28 on 26" tires) available and contemplating going down another 10% on the road bikes, equipment permitting.
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Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
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Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
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Old 03-21-21, 08:17 AM
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Originally Posted by canklecat
Yup, since 2015 my steel road bike has gone from the original 7-speed 13-24 freewheel to 13-25 and now 13-28. And the chainrings have gone from 52/42 to 52/39 and now 50/38.

One of my carbon fiber bikes still has the 52/39 and 11-25 setup, but it's much lighter and tolerable on climbs. Otherwise there's little difference. The Centurion Ironman is still generally more comfy.
Finishing up the Ochsner and want to put a new 7 speed cassette on it. It's sitting at 13-26 right now but I'm thinking a 13-28 might make it more appealing to others. Pretty sure as I focus on downsizing this bike will be moved on too. Now to just find one in stock somewhere.

Not to mention my old man legs and knees need all the help they can get these days too. Add me to the gearing down crowd!
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Old 03-21-21, 09:14 AM
  #5  
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Originally Posted by jamesdak
Finishing up the Ochsner and want to put a new 7 speed cassette on it. It's sitting at 13-26 right now but I'm thinking a 13-28 might make it more appealing to others. Pretty sure as I focus on downsizing this bike will be moved on too. Now to just find one in stock somewhere.

Not to mention my old man legs and knees need all the help they can get these days too. Add me to the gearing down crowd!
My AD Superleight project coming together... 11-48t microshift cassette with advent x RD with a 46t chainring. no idea how this is going to ride, but beer and covid season can produce some weird things!




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Old 03-21-21, 09:20 AM
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Fahrenheit531 
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Originally Posted by T Pascal Parham
I always rode a corncob, nearly straight cog - you know, each gear 1 tooth from the last, the largest two maybe an extra tooth apartb. They were a joy to ride, looked right on my racing bikes, and never kept me from ascending the steepest climbs. However, lately, I found I was really dragging behind on hills, behind cycle mates pushing much lower gears. Well, as the old saying goes, I ain't proud! Mind you, I was proud, but at this point, I'm proud to still ride, still hauling Columbus steel and Campy alloy, and if I want the numerical advantage of lower gears, well, I can't hide it, so go ahead and smirk at my new 11-28 cluster. See you at the top!
You'll find a lot of that around here.
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